These are troubled times, says Josie Long in her new touring show – but things have long been weird, and perhaps we should use that as an excuse to live and to celebrate.
Tonight’s show at Norwich Playhouse opens with a slightly discombobulated – well, more than usual – Long explaining that her journey to the city from her Glasgow home was fraught, and that UPS hadn’t managed to deliver her set to the venue.
Despite that, her opening patter was lively and fun, maintaining that it is still an exciting time to be on the left of comedy, even when attempts at setting up a new party have seemingly imploded before they begun, the war in Gaza is beyond inhumane, and the censorious impact of the Charlie Kirk shooting reaches into the UK.
There is a clear sense she longs for times when Jeremy Corbyn was considered a big beast, but the main plank of this show is focused on the mega fauna of 11,000 years ago. And even magic grandpa isn’t that old.
Long’s romp through the mystical looking but real animals of the past is mixed with her life as a mum, revelations of her own ageing, and the global end times that appear to surround us. With that backdrop, she advocates for Gramsci’s optimism of the will to win over the pessimism of intelligence – but with more gags.
This is a funny show – likening some of the more esoteric creatures from the past as like having been drawn by God from memory for one; an extended story about her children’s hamster, its potential conversations with less welcome mice, its giant balls, and its Lazarus-like qualities. A pun on the age of her daughters is a stupid but delicious moment.
But there is also quite a scattergun feeling to the set, which is early in its tour. There are some rewarding callbacks but there is also some material that doesn’t go anywhere, and the show’s two-hour runtime doesn’t entirely earn its keep.
It’s a shame that the set mishap robbed the show of its intended finale, which we got to enjoy only through pictures of a previous show, making for less cinematic reveals.
Long’s enthusiasm and wonder remains infectious though; perhaps all will be well after all.
- Josie Long is touring nationally, including Cambridge Junction on 22 October 2025.
